Thursday, September 29, 2011

When I saw Eddy Current Suppression Ring a few years ago I wasn't the most impressed. They were boring, to be honest. The music was alright recorded, but live, meh. I just can't shake that memory and UV Race shares at least one member. So, I don't know if it's just boredom by association, but I'm bored by this. Plus it sounds like garage for hipsters. I wanted to like these guys (I first heard of them through the Gonerfest 7 lineup), but I just don't think it's going to happen.

A recent metal head recently told my wife that punk has it right. In comparison to metal bands who need every note perfect even when live, punk bands just have fun and go and play sloppy. I don't get the fun and sloppy feeling from these guys, even with their garage required lo-fi recordings. They're from Ausralia, for Chrissakes! Where's the drunken abandon?

On the plus side, the songs that have the saxaphone ala The Stooges' Funhouse are my favorites. Those songs are alright enough, but it's not hard to get me to like punk songs with noisy saxes.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

I'm not the biggest fan of hardcore, but that's changing with all these great bands coming out that are more Germs/Dead Kennedys/Bad Brains/(insert whatever band that were just a faster, harder punk rock) and less meathead hXc horse pucky. And picking out of three aforementioned bands, Dead Kennedys would be the obvious jumping off point for these guys, specifically East Bay Ray's surf rock inflected riffs. I guess that's really all that's Dead Kennedys-ish here, but it's hard to not mention, most of all because it's just so freaking cool. On top of this you get a lot of lyrics about murder, killing, and variations of these themes from blood soaked midnight movies. And they cover "Squad Car," one of the coolest instrumental surf songs ever! One of the Ergs is involved. And they're from the Jersey Shore/Brooklyn, NY. If I was from those places, I'd probably sing about killing people, too.
Check them out!

Yes! This has got to be my favorite album of the year. How are all these bands recently (i.e. the last year or two) emerging that so perfectly channel what made the Ramones so great and fun after decades of shitty bands who claim to be doing the same? Screeching Weasel? Give me a fucking break. Terrible! After hearing The Wax Museums along with Nobunny, The Mean Jeans, Hex Dispensers, et al, one wonders how that baggy shorts stuff ever got associated with the greatest rock 'n' roll band ever from Queens.
This record is just so cool. I mean these guys are so bored and angry (and when I say angry I mean funny) that they wrote "Between" about how they hate the space between your eyebrows. "Breakfast For Dinner" is the greatest song about afternoon delight since "Afternoon Delight." I'm gonna be listening to this for years.

Listening to this reminds me of the Trashwomen. That's an easy one, because the singer (along with the rest of the band) is female. That plus she belts it out in front of a band that has got to be aware of the Budget Rock stylings of The Mummies, Rip Offs, and/or Supercharger. The first two, "My Mom is Hot" and "HIV" are snotty punk songs, where the third, "Desert Furs" slows things down and shows a little more melody. Doing some basic google research tells me they're from Calgary, which is famous for snow and being remote. But I live in Maine, so that just makes me like it more.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

It's not even really an album, just a compilation of previously released singles and filled out with some unreleased material, but this is a monster. Growing up a dirty punk kid along the banks of the Mississippi, weened on oldies radio that at that time meant a lot of doo wop and soul, this is what makes sense to me musically. If I were a people, this would be the music of my people. Greg, Jack, and Eric helped to extend the idea of garage punk to include black rock 'n' roll and Killed By Death punk, helping make the genre what it is today. Seriously, they could've been another Mummies/Billy Childish clone and that would've been alright, I guess. But instead they took what what was going on around them and made their own thing. Even the Gories/'68 Comeback influence gets innovated on. Evolution doesn't always equal progressive.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Fuck, I'm tired. It's been a long day, but I drank a lot of coffee and had to deal with bullshit with my (now foremer) employer who wasn't paying me. So, instead I'm listening to this album by Redd Kross. Redd Kross, I guess, fits into the power pop genre, but since nothing exists in a vacuum, they were influenced by the Southern California punk scene they were a part of. "Linda Blair" was on a compilation I heard when I was 13 and is partially responsible for getting me into punk. Or maybe it's punk with power pop influences. You can also hear garage, glam, metal, surf, bubblegum, etc. in their sound. They were truly pop song craftsmen, and not in a lame way like most people would mean when they call bands that.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

"Jeppson's Malört has the aroma and full-bodied flavor of an unusual botanical. Its bitter taste is savored by two-fisted drinkers."

A little secret about myself. Sometimes, I drink a shot of Malort when I'm feeling particularly ho hum. Just one shot. No matter how drab I might be feeling, I get a rush of adrenalin, because clearly my body is like, "Dude, what the fuck?!"

This is the side project of one of the guys from Bad Sports. And fuck do I love that whole Denton/Austin sound. Bad Sports kinda have that power pop sound, where OBN III's here remind you more of the first Stooges record. Nothing incredibly new. Just perfected.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Some things get listened to, and then reviewed, simply because of what it's called. This is on Voodoo Rhythm and is as sleazy as you'd expect. Yeah, it's sleazy, but so is Prince at times. What does it sound like? This is some decent new weird America from Switzerland. "Send Me Some" plays like a jug band fronted by Hedwig & The Angry Inch. "Chanson d'amour" reminds me of Jacques Dutronc. "21 marzo" sounds like a Satanic funeral song from a Spaghetti Western. Then some doozies close it out, where they sound like the worst of World Inferno Friendship Society or The Dresden Dolls and all the bad goth make up that brings to mind. What amazes me more than anything, though, is how above average the good songs are. This could've been super lame. Seriously, when doing this type of music it's hard to not sound like some middle age dude's hobby. Thankfully there is nothing too steampunk about this.

Friday, September 9, 2011

The thing with surf rock is the songs never sound like their titles. It doesn't really sound like the devil shot his amp. The guitar tone would be more fucked up than it is on "The Devil Shot My Amp." Or, "Hard Traffic" I suppose could sound like the situation referenced in the title, but so can it like any number of other harrowing situations and topics. The other thing about surf rock, though, is you can't name every song "Cool Surf Rock Song #..." So you pick random names. Man... or Astro-Man? were the kings of this. What you get is nine cool surf rock songs, and some even manage to mix things up while staying true to Ventures-isms. "Mezcal Breakfast" has a ska/reggae undercurrent to it. And no, I didn't try to use a sea related metaphor because it's surf rock. I just so happen to like sea related metaphors.

People with great record collections start great bands. When I say great record collections, I'm talking quality over quantity. And I'm talking wide ranging. Shannon and the Clams I assume have a stellar one. They're the types of folks who you could do the most heavenly of activities with, drink beer and listen to records. You get your all of your Shangri-Las and The Ronnettes, but throughout the night I bet you hear some Nobunny and Ty Segall. Don't be surprised if Divine's disco album gets a spin and a drunken singalong, either. Then there's Shannon's pipes. It sounds like a goddamned Patsy Cline fronting all the sleazy late 50's/early 60's sweetheart/babydoll rock 'n' roll.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Women in Prison are good. Y'know how Career Suicide plays hardcore with garage rock influences? Same sort of deal here. Whereas Career Suicide has that sort of snotty '77 vibe at times, Women in Prison has this early Texas hardcore weird kid thing going for them. Think The Dicks or Bobby Soxx. Or even some Flipper or Church Police in the vocals. And to add to this review via long list of other band names, members have been in The Functional Blackouts, The Young, and Total Abuse.

Friday, August 26, 2011

This continues where Underground Railroad to Candyland's first album, Bird Roughs left off, continuing with their San Pedro, CA surf punk. Todd Conge's song writing style is pretty unmistakable. All of his bands, Toys That Kill, F.Y.P., Stoned At Heart, his solo work, and Underground, have differences, but you can hear the musical brain behind all of them. Out of all of these, it's closest to his solo albums, but with a more filled out sound. There are some instrumentals like "Animals! Run!," "2010," and the Link Wray cover "Run Chicken Run," but I was thinking more vocal surf rock. Think less Dick Dale and more Beach Boys or Jan & Dean. Especially think of the Beach Boys after Brian Wilson took acid. The harmonies and strange little flourishes bring to mind albums like Pet Sounds and Smile.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Maybe it's the return of Beavis & Butthead. Maybe it's the utter fucked upness of the world. Or maybe it's all of these planets and stars aligning. Whatever it is, here's another scummy drug punk record to review. These guys are from Alabama and as their song title "Alabama's Doomed" would imply, I guess they have some complex feelings about this. Scummy drug punk. I just wanted to type that again, because that's what this sounds like. And while I'm restating things that describe their sound, Alabama. I wouldn't say they're southern rock by any stretch, you can kinda tell that these guys definitely absorbed the sounds of their surroundings while growing up. So when they're playing their Crime-esque punk, some Southernisms can't help but slip into there. And I just now realized "Alabama's Doomed" is probably a reference to Crime's "San Francisco's Doomed."

I don't like the song "Chrome Intensifier" or "Excavate Heaven," though. Dude, I get it. You're fucked up. If you're going play all slow and psych-ish, at least do something interesting with it. Some of the other slow songs fair better, though. For instance, "Pterodactyl Meltdown" or "No Mongo." These manage to keep interest and momentum better. Kinda.

When I first of the band name GG King I was like, "Oh, man. That's so stupid," thinking it was a reference to GG Allin and, I dunno, Elvis or somethin'. Then I thought about just how stupid it was and what type of stupid it was. Then I thought, "I bet I'll like this." And I do. Finding out Greg King of the Carbonas was behind this didn't hurt, either. This is also, I'm assuming where the name GG King comes from and not some punks attempting to be snotty ala Elvis Hitler.

This whole thing sounds like any fake band from any number of late 70's tv shows or movies, but with a pop genius writing their songs. This is meant as a compliment.

Just like The Reatards took their basic formula of the Oblivians and put their own spin on it, the Useless Eaters are the next in the line of the string of Memphis bands. And just like the Oblivians to Reatards evolution, this next step also shakes off some of the blues tendencies of the previous generation, leaving behind refined three chord punk rock. I don't mean refined as in a British lady's tea party, either. There's a Buzzcocks feel to their leads and some of Seth Sutton's vocals. So, maybe it is in a British lady's tea party way. All this aside, their myspace lists this as their influences: